


Case Study

by bisexualamy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9927836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualamy/pseuds/bisexualamy
Summary: When Amy sees a posting for a paid psychology study about romantic couples, she ropes a reluctant Rory into her scheme to make some quick money.  But this plan might go a little too well.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Inspired by this tumblr post.](http://transjeanluc.tumblr.com/post/155680368949/relenafanel-lesbianrey-looks-like-the)

When Rory heard the click of Amy’s heels coming down the hallway outside his dorm room, he didn’t even look up from his laptop screen.  She’d long since given up knocking when he left the door cracked, so her distinctive footsteps became all the warning he needed.  Well, that and-

_“Rory!”_

She burst through the door with enough force that Rory thought he felt a slight breeze.  Still, he wasn’t fazed, skimming through an article for one of his biology classes whose topic he swore they already covered back in his A-Level biology class.

“Yes?” he said, a bit monotonously, eyes still travelling rapidly across his computer screen.

“Rory,” Amy repeated, evident annoyance in her voice.  She paused, waiting for him to stop what he was doing, lengthening the seconds by staring at his head until he finally looked up.  It was then that Rory saw she was holding a piece of paper.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Free money,” she said with a smile.  She walked over to where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed and handed him the paper.

 

 **_PAID RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY_ ** **_  
_ ** Romantic Couples Study 

You and your partner are eligible to participate if you:

  * Are in a committed, monogamous relationship
  * Have been dating for at least six months
  * Are currently living together
  * Are both over the age of 18



 

Rory feel his cheeks starting to blush.  To recover, he shook his head slightly and looked at Amy with a bit of forced sarcasm.

“We’re a couple now?”

“No, stupid face,” she said, giving his shoulder a shove.  Rory tried to ignore how his heart sank at her reaction, like the idea could be so ridiculous.  “We’re doing it for the money.”

“But we’re not a couple,” Rory said.  “And we don’t live together.”

“We’re both over 18,” Amy countered, “and we have known each other for over six months.  That must count for something.”

“Yeah, a failing grade, if this were a test,” Rory said.  “I don’t want to muck up their study.”

“You know these studies don’t really count for anything anyway,” Amy said flippantly.  “These are just grad students trying to get some research credits to complete their studies, and we’re just trying to make some money.  It’s a win all around.”

“Some people actually take their research seriously-”

 _“Please,_ Rory,” Amy said.  She looked at him with clearly feigned innocent eyes, her mouth in a small pout.

“You know these studies don’t pay very well,” he said, knowing he had the stronger argument by averting his gaze from Amy anyway.  She had a way of convincing him to do the most ridiculous things.

“If it’s under twenty quid I’ll treat you to takeaway and we’ll call it even.”

“And if it’s not?”

“Then you made over twenty quid and you should be thanking me.  You can’t lose.”

Rory looked back to Amy, who was still putting on her most convincing face, and he sighed.

“Alright, where do we sign up?”

“Online,” she said, nudging him out of the way to get on his laptop before he realized what was happening.  “On the psychology department’s website.  I’ll put us down for tomorrow after your chemistry class.  If it’s not too long, we’ll still have time to grab lunch.”

***

At 11:28 the next morning, Amy and Rory found themselves sitting in the basement of the humanities building, waiting to be called in for their study.  Rory was nervously shaking his leg, looking around at all of the postings about different studies, and reminders of the ethical treatment they were entitled to as consenting, adult participants.  In some way, he felt like they were staring disapprovingly at him.

“Will you quit fidgeting,” Amy muttered.  “You look like you’re about to be put on trial.”

“Amy, this is a bad idea,” he replied.  “I really think we should-”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence before a grad student walked into the makeshift lobby where they were sitting.  His dark hair was combed neatly back and he was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a short-sleeve button down.  For some reason, Rory was surprised he wasn’t wearing a lab coat.

“Are you two Amy Pond and Rory Williams?” he asked.  His voice was warm and he smiled at the two of them, which just increased Rory’s guilt.

“That’s right!” Amy said, with a little more enthusiasm than Rory would’ve liked.

“Great,” he said.  “My name’s Matt, and first I just want to thank both of you for signing up.  Now, if you’ll just read over and sign these ethics agreements, we can get started.”

He handed the two of them the clipboard and pen he was holding, which had two copies of the ethics agreement clipped onto it.  Rory started skimming the text about how they were entitled to certain information about the study, but apparently Amy didn’t agree, signing her name almost immediately and then nudging Rory to do the same.  Reluctantly, he signed his name and handed the clipboard back to the grad student.

“Thanks,” Matt said.  “Now, Rory, you’re with me, and Amy, you’re in the next room where my partner Andrew is waiting for you.”  He gestured in the opposition direction.  “We’re just going to ask both of you a series of questions, no more than fifteen minutes of your time, and then you’re free to go.”

“Sounds easy,” Amy said, shooting Rory a pointed glance that could only be read as smug.  Trying not to let out a sigh, Rory followed Matt out of the lobby and into a second room.  Inside was just a table and two chairs.  Rory sat down, still feeling a bit shaky, and Matt sat across from him.

“I saw that your girlfriend sort of ripped the clipboard out of your hands,” Matt said in a way that Rory figured he was trying to relate to him.

“Yeah, she can be a of a… force of nature,” he said.  Worrying there was disdain in his voice, he quickly followed up with, “but I love her though.  Don’t know where I’d be without her.”  He coughed involuntarily, feeling like there was no way Matt could believe this terrible performance.  Instead, however, the grad student smiled.

“I’m sure,” he said.  “Did you get a chance to read over the basics of the study?”

“Not really,” Rory said, with another cough, “no.”

“Alright,” Matt said, “well, this study is to determine how well couples communicate.  I’m just going to ask you a series of questions about Amy, and then a series of questions about yourself, and Amy will be doing the same.  Then we’ll see how the answers line up.”

“Simple enough,” Rory said with a nervous laugh.

“I hope so,” Matt said.  “Now, let’s get started.”

In the next room, a much calmer Amy was getting the same explanation.  When Andrew finished briefing her, she gave him a nod and said, “alright, let’s get on with it.”

***

“What is Amy’s favorite color?”

“Crimson, like her hair,” Rory said, feeling himself smile.  “It might be a little cliché but it suits her.  She’s all fire.”

***

“What’s Rory’s favorite food?”

“You’d think it would be something really basic since he can be a stick in the mud,” Amy said with a laugh.  “But it’s mac and cheese, which is the most childish food I can think of, but it still feels right for him.”

***

“What’s a childhood memory Amy talks about all the time?”

“Her best friend Mels from grade school,” Rory said, feeling himself relax a bit.  Talking about Amy was something he could do in his sleep, with all the time they spent together.  If this study really was just testing his knowledge of his best friend, there was no way he couldn’t do well.  “She sort of disappeared after Amy went to university, and I mean really disappeared, not just lost touch, but Amy really loved her.”

***

“What would Rory do to relax after a stressful day?”

“Watch a movie,” Amy said.  “Probably with me, honestly.  He says that being around me calms him down, which is really sweet of him now that I say it out loud.”  She smiled to herself, thinking of all the texts she got with movie titles, implying that Amy should respond with whichever one she liked best.  Even when he was at his most stressed, Rory still kept her in mind.

***

“If Amy called you in the middle of the night, what would be your first guess as to why she needed you?”

“Most people here would probably say that she was in trouble or drunk or something,” Rory said, “but I think it would be because she’s sad...”  He trailed off, looking at Matt and said, “all this information is anonymous, right?”

“That’s right,” he said.

“Okay,” Rory paused again before continuing.  “She gets in these fits of really dark moods, and sometimes I’m the only one that can snap her out of them.  She says that my pragmatism makes the world seem a little less overwhelming.”

***

“What’s Rory afraid of most?”

For the first time this whole study, Amy took a pause.  She looked away from Andrew for a second before asking, “this is all confidential, right?”

“Of course,” he said.

“Alright…” she said.  “It’s not being good enough, not just for me, but for anyone.  I think he goes around thinking that nobody wants him, or that he’s nobody special, but that’s just not true.  He’s special to me.”

***

After the promised fifteen minutes of question and answer, Amy and Rory both walked back into the lobby with Matt and Andrew.  In his hand, Andrew held two envelopes.

“Here you go,” he said, handing one to each of them.  “Fifteen quid for fifteen minutes.  Not a bad deal, I think.”

“Thanks,” Amy muttered, feeling a little weird.

“If I could just say,” Matt started, “that by talking to Rory, you two seem really happy together.  I’m glad you found each other.”

“I’m glad I found her,” Rory said, and feeling it was the most genuine moment of the day.

“Well, thank you for your time,” Andrew said.  “We have more participants coming in in a few minutes.  Are you two able to show yourselves out?”

They both nodded, walking out of the makeshift lobby and up the stairs to the main level of the humanities building in silence.  There was a thick blanket of tension hovering over them, but neither could really determine why the other was feeling it.  As they walked, they stared straight ahead, as if looking at each other would break the tension with such force that neither would be able to handle it.

“Fifteen quid,” Rory said, peering into the envelope.  “Guess you owe me some takeaway.”

“What?” Amy said, before starting, “right.  I forgot.”

“Chinese?” Rory asked.  “We can get noodles delivered from that place you like downtown.”

“Great,” Amy said.  “Really great.”

Rory forced himself to laugh a little before saying, “I guess you were right though.  Your plan worked, really well it seems.  They completely bought it.”

“I guess they did.”

“And now we don’t have to pretend anymore.  Unless you find another study.”

“I’ll keep my eye out,” Amy said, her tone only half-joking.

“Not a bad way to make fifteen quid, though.”

“No,” she said, looking first at her shoes, then for a second at Rory before re-diverting her eyes, “not at all.”


End file.
